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Honduras holds off recount of presidential vote after losing party fails to show up

Associated Press
Published | Updated

Electoral workers and members of the electoral tribunal conduct a vote count in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2013. Election authorities in Honduras have agreed to recount the votes from the Nov. 24 presidential elections after receiving a fraud complaint from the opposition and now four Honduran tech entrepreneurs, who all have studied abroad and live in the U.S., Honduras and El Salvador, went to Honduras' official election website and downloaded scanned copies of vote tally sheets from polling stations. They then posted the sheets publicly and recruited hundreds of volunteers through social media to help check the results. The green light over the woman at left is due to the ambient light cast on her. (AP Photo/Fernando Antonio) (The Associated Press)

Electoral workers and members of the electoral tribunal conduct a vote count in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2013. Election authorities in Honduras have agreed to recount the votes from the Nov. 24 presidential elections after receiving a fraud complaint from the opposition and now four Honduran tech entrepreneurs, who all have studied abroad and live in the U.S., Honduras and El Salvador, went to Honduras' official election website and downloaded scanned copies of vote tally sheets from polling stations. They then posted the sheets publicly and recruited hundreds of volunteers through social media to help check the results. (AP Photo/Fernando Antonio) (The Associated Press)

Honduras' electoral court says it has held off a recount of vote tally sheets from the Nov. 24 presidential election after representatives of the losing party failed to show up.

Court president David Matamoros says the recount was scheduled to start Wednesday but that members of the Libre Party didn't show up as had been agreed.

The court agreed to do a recount this week after receiving a fraud complaint from Libre presidential candidate Xiomara Castro, who finished second.

Matamoros says representatives from all parties need to be present during the recount.

Libre officials didn't return calls seeking comment but the party says on its Facebook page that the recount didn't start because there isn't an agreement on how it should be conducted.